Newsround

Newsround
The Newsround logo
Format	Children's news magazine
Starring	Ellie Crisell Lizo Mzimba Laura Jones Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes Adam Fleming Sonali Gudka Gavin Ramjaun Helen Skelton
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Georgie Bevan Simon Goretzki (deputy editor) Sinéad Rocks (editor) Ronan Breen (Sportsround) Robert Thompson Clare Youell (online)
Running time	10 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One BBC Two CBBC Channel
Original run	4 April 1972 – present
Chronology
Related shows	Newsround Extra Sportsround

Newsround (originally called John Craven's Newsround, before the departure of Craven) is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazine aimed specifically at children. Initially commissioned as a short series by BBC Children's Department, who held editorial control, its facilities are provided by BBC News. The show is now aimed at 6 to 12-year-olds. Newsround on BBC One is moving to 5:05pm from 11 February 2008 due to Neighbours moving to five.

History

Originally called John Craven's Newsround, it was mostly presented by John Craven between 4 April 1972 and 22 June 1989, though presenters including Roger Finn and Helen Rollason also presented during the 1980s.

On Craven's departure, the show was renamed Newsround, and its presenters who regularly rotate have included Juliet Morris, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Julie Etchingham, Chris Rogers, Kate Sanderson, Matthew Price, and Becky Jago. Regular reporters on the programme, who have also presented it, include Paul McDowell, Paul Welsh and Terry Baddoo. For over 25 years, it was usually broadcast on BBC One at 5 p.m.

Newsround was the first BBC television programme to break the news of the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger on 28 January 1986. As the event was shown during the opening titles, it is often erroneously stated that the tragedy happened live on air, but it in fact happened about fifteen minutes earlier. This edition was presented by Roger Finn, who had only recently joined the programme.

Current format and presenters

The Newsround edition broadcast at 5:25 pm on CBBC One has Ellie Crisell as its main anchor, with Lizo Mzimba taking Ellie's main role when she is absent. All of the presenters make reports. A half hour special on the effects of Hurricane Katrina saw presenter Lizo Mzimba nominated for a BAFTA. On the CBBC Channel, the Newsround bulletins are read by Sonali Gudka and Gavin Ramjaun. The other reporters are Laura Jones who occasionally takes the main anchor on the rare occasion when both Ellie and Lizo are absent, and Adam Fleming. Lizzie Greenwood is a reporter for Sportsround, Newsround's sister show. During Lizzie's absence Helen Skelton took her place and now continues to fill in for other presenters during their absences. Helen joined Newsround in November 2007 as mainly presenting for Sportsround but now continues also in Newsround.

Newsround's editor is Sinéad Rocks. The TV producers are Ronan Breen and Robert Thompson. The main online producer is Clare Youell.

Newsround Extra

A variation on the regular format of Newsround is a series of short (typically 15-minute) documentary films broadcast under the title Newsround Extra, which have been a regular feature since the late 1970s. There are two or three series of these documentaries during the year, which replace the regular bulletins on one day of the week (usually Monday, although sometimes on Fridays, particularly during the 1980s). There was a Newsround Extra on 1 December 2006 called The Wrong Trainers a rather dark film consisting of six short animations dealing with child poverty and related issues. In one of the presentations Chris says the Government is not spending money as wisely as they should be. Afterwards, there was a linked BBCi special following up the issues. Newsround - The Wrong Trainers won the Royal Television Society Award for best children's programme 2006. The Wrong Trainers won the factual category at the 2007 Children's Baftas.

Newsround Showbiz

Originally called Newsround Lite, Newsround Showbiz ran from 2001 to 2005. It started as a daily programme and then moved to Saturdays and Sundays. It was hosted by Lizzie, Adam, Rachel or Thalia who were regular Newsround presenters and produced by Sinead Rocks. The show contained entertainment news and gossip and generally took a lighthearted view of the world of celebrity.

Newsround Investigates

Newsround Investigates was intended as a special half-hour documentary series for CBBC, taking an in-depth look at issues affecting children’s lives. The first and only edition was on May 8, 2006. It investigated the subject of arson in schools.

Sportsround

In September 2005, a new spin-off of Newsround was launched, entitled Sportsround. It contains reports from major sporting events and local sport competitions. The show is presented by Jake Humphrey, alongside Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes & Helen Skelton occasionally. In Jake Humphry's absence Nigel Clarke will take the main anchor

Newsround on the web

Newsround has its own website as part of the main CBBC web site, featuring:

• The latest news headlines, grouped into the relevant sections (e.g. World, UK, Sci-Tech, etc.)
• An RSS feed for each of the sections (e.g. an RSS feed for World news, UK news, etc.)
• A games section, with many Flash games.
• Message boards for different topics (e.g. In The News, Doctor Who, etc.)
• A voting section, where users can vote on different popular topics such as favourite film, etc.
• Quizzes.
• Press Pack reports presented by children.

In February, an online video podcast was released called And Finally . This was a summary of the entire week's news, and a new edition was released every Thursday. There was also a podcast for Sportsround called Action Replay. This could either be downloaded as an MPEG-4 Part 14 file or as a podcast which includes both And Finally and Action Replay. Both services were part of a podcast trial which has now been stopped.

Newsround Quiz

From 18 December 2006 to 5 January 2007, digital satellite and Freeview viewers could access the free and interactive Newsround Review of The Year Quiz by pressing the red button on their remote control. Viewers watched video questions and then selected their answer by pressing the coloured keys on their remote control.

Newsround Review of the Year

This is a special 45 minute edition of newsround which features a review of all the years news this programme has featured for many years. Ellie Crisell, Lizo Mzimba and Laura Jones present. But there was no review of the year programme for 2007.

Criticisms

The programme has been criticized by young people, on its own CBBC message boards, as being "patronising." On diversity, some have accused Newsround of discrimination against LGBT people, pointing out a perceived reluctance to include LGBT relevant issues or stories, and alleging that posts about gay rights have been removed from the Newsround messageboards. In October 2007 Newsround's website included an LGBT news item for the first time in 5½ years, although it was not reported on air. Feedback from older children to Newsround's website is alleged to have been "surreptitiously and systematically" discounted since about summer 2006, though feedback from 14 and 15 year-olds has been seen since 11 January 2008.

Newsround's website coverage of 9/11 was criticised by some as biased against the USA. The coverage was subsequently amended.

Former presenters

Presenter	Dates presenting
John Craven	April, 1972 - 22 June, 1989
Paul McDowell	1979? - 1985
Roger Finn	1985 - 1991
Helen Rollason	1986 - 1990
Juliet Morris	1990 - October, 1994
Krishnan Guru-Murthy	1991 - October, 1994
Julie Etchingham	October, 1994 - February, 1998
Chris Rogers	October, 1994 - 1999
Kate Sanderson	July, 1997 - September, 2001
Matthew Price	1999 - 2002
Becky Jago	September, 2001 - February, 2003
Rachel Horne	December, 2002 - April, 2006
Thalia Pellegrini	October, 2003 - 2007